PC Street Fighter IV considerations

We already know that the PC release of Street Fighter IV is early July (July 2 for Japan, July 7 for US).  It’s been around two weeks since the release date announcement was made, and details on the release have slowly been trickling-in.  For a guy who has no console, this is a must-buy.  Unfortunately, this is the PC we’re talking about, so simply “getting the game” isn’t as simple.

Forget the specs for a moment (specs considerations are pretty much standard fare when PC gaming) and assume your rig is up to it (or you can try the benchmark tool and find out).  My dilemma is simply how to obtain the damn game.

Let’s look at the info we have sofar, maybe it’ll help in the decision making.

First the PC version only perks:

• 3 different shader options
• MadCatz Fightsticks for SFIV will be recognized by the PC verison (both XBOX and PS3 versions?)

Things to note:

• It will be available for digital download at “Capcom.com’s e-store, Steam, Impulse, Direct2Drive, Metaboli, Gametap, Nvidia.com, GamersGate and others to be named later”.
• Sven: “Steam will use its own DRM, Impulse will use it’s GOO DRM. Direct2Drive, Metaboli, Gametap, GamersGate, Capcom’s Estore, Nvidia.com will all be using SecuROM’s network authentication.”
• Sven: “The serial codes for Impulse and Steam and retail are completely
  different. If you want auto updates from Impulse or Steam, you need to
  buy from them initially.”
• Games for Windows – LIVE online play will have no cross-platform support (ergo, you can’t fight with the XBOX peeps)

Issues/Remaining questions:

• I’ve heard that Games for Windows – LIVE’s online play will work only if your country is supported.  My country ain’t on the list.  I have to change my GFWL account to be based on a supported country?
• Are both XBOX and PS3 FightSticks supported on the PC?  I’m considering getting a PS3 FightStick since I play against my pal on a PS3, but given that the game uses GFW, I’m not sure of the compatibility (the said it works, but it wasn’t specific).

I hope this helps you in your PC SFIV decision making.

SOURCES:

• [CAPCOM Unity] Street Fighter IV PC: the Specs
• [CAPCOM Unity] The Street Fighter IV PC – The Options [sic]
• Videogamer.com
• Shacknews
• Kotaku
• [Kotaku] Street Fighter IV benchmark tool released, test your might via RPS

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